State teachers face dismissal

The district administration has ordered dismissal of 23 government schoolteachers, who have not cleared the Jharkhand Teachers Eligibility Test (JTET).

The salaries of the 23 teachers, appointed on compassionate ground in 2010, have been kept on hold.

The 23 teachers, five of whom are trained, have been asked to switch to clerical posts as they have not qualified JTET conducted by the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) last year.

District superintendent of education BB Singh said the deputy commissioner had directed that the appointment of all the teachers, done on the recommendation of compensation committee, be cancelled.

“We have started the dismissal process as the trained or untrained teachers have not qualified TET held earlier. The state primary education department has directed removal of teachers who have not cleared TET,” Singh said.

“We have given an option to the teachers to switch to clerical posts as they have not cleared TET,” Singh said.

To be a primary schoolteacher, an aspirant must have a Bachelor in Education (BEd) degree or an equivalent and should qualify TET conducted by state governments and the Centre separately every year.

“The department should have thought before offering us teacher’s posts. After more than three years of service, suspension of salaries or forced switch over to clerical posts are injustice with us,” said an affected teacher, adding they would drag the matter to the court if the department didn’t reconsider its decision.